New Delhi

Popular life coach, influencer and podcaster Jay Shetty is under scrutiny after media reports claimed that he has plagiarised several of his social media posts and fabricated details about his life story. 

Shetty is quite popular among Hollywood as well as Bollywood celebrities and uses his social media platforms to talk about life philosophies. His official website states, "During his school years, Jay Shetty spent vacations living with monks in India, immersing himself in their wisdom and teachings."

However, a report by The Guardian has claimed that Shetty has falsely claimed to have spent three years in a temple in India. Shetty has even written a book Think Like A Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day.

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Jay Shetty's claims are false?

The 36-year-old writer-influencer was born in London and went to business school and runs a podcast called On Purpose, where he has hosted celebrities like Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian and the late Kobe Bryant, among others.

He also runs a Jay Shetty Certification School, where students reportedly pay thousands of dollars to learn the Jay Shetty discipline.

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The investigative report by The Guardian casts doubt on the accuracy of Shetty's own life narrative and educational qualifications.

"After graduating, Shetty forgoes a life of material success to live as a monk himself. Three years later, he has another revelation: his purpose in life is not to live the humble life of a monk but to use his preternatural oratory skills to share wisdom with the world. Thus begins his transformation into a public self-help personality and his swift rise to fame. Shetty's success is largely predicated on this riches-to-rags-to-riches backstory," the Guardian report states. 

Shetty also has reportedly misrepresented certain aspects of his biography including the claim that his life changed at the age of 18 when he heard a lecture by a monk.

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He also claims that he has a degree in behavioural science from a business school that doesn't even offer the course.

The report alleges that Shetty uses his spiritual identity to make huge sums of money. Shetty, over the years, has gained a huge fan following on social media and over 15 million followers on Instagram. 

The report states that Shetty demands huge sums of money for his guidance. "Shetty has used his spiritual authority to launch many subscription and education services, including the life-coaching school, which charges $7,400 a term for “Postgraduate Diploma (Level 7) qualifications” – equivalent to a master's degree.”

The report also states that Shetty avoids talking about his involvement with the Iskon, as there are plenty of controversies surrounding the organisation. Instead, he likes to call himself a 'Vedic monk'

Earlier charges of plagiarism

Many would recall that Jay Shetty has courted controversy over charges of plagiarism earlier as well. The report stated that in 2019, Jay Shetty removed over 100 posts from YouTube and Instagram after YouTuber Nicole Arbour exposed the actual sources behind his stories.

Talking about the plagiarised social media content, the report said, “Many of Shetty's “original” videos were based on pre-existing parables and social media posts that had gone viral years earlier.”

It added, “After Arbour's video, Shetty ordered his employees to go through all posts and include attributions to content that had been taken from elsewhere." Shetty then subsequently deleted more than 100 posts. 

It should be noted that Shetty officiated the wedding of Hollywood stars Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck and also promoted Deepika Padukone's skin care brand recently when it launched a range of products for men.